Is there a better way to communicate and work online?
A topic-centric approach to digital interaction can help!
Engaging with colleagues, friends and family seems to have turned into a minefield of options in a flooded swamp of information overload that needs to be navigated every day.
Options abound: VOIP call/Skype/Google Hangout, email, instant message/SMS/iMessage, Dropbox, Google Drive, Facebook, Twitter, Slack, HipChat, LinkedIn… The Conversation Prism by Brian Solis & JESS3 covers it in excruciating detail — and that’s just a social perspective!
Facebook is a given — I need to stay up to date with my 500+ “best mates” and keep checking what my mother is up to on the interwebs. But is it the best place to coordinate private social stuff? I always have a few key mates who have not got on to Facebook yet (and actively avoid doing so).
Other tools like WhatsApp seem to be prevalent in some communities but not in others. Australia seems to have a situation where at a dinner table with 10 mates, I kid you not, 9 of them will have iPhones — so iMessage is the go. The one poor Android user gets emailed. (Meanwhile, there were actually another 2 Android users who missed the dinner altogether as they never check their email.)
Slack seems to have the ear (or fingers) of the geek world, but beyond that I have never come across it in the social/consumer world.
At work, folk are probably using a bunch of tools but the email inbox still seems to rule the roost. I have seen a number of organizations use corporate tools like Salesforce (with Chatter), mix it up with the likes of WhatsApp and WeChat for IM, and then use email for the rest. I’m sure this keeps IT and compliance managers up at night! We’ve also seen organizations like Deutsche Bank ban apps like WhatsApp, Google Talk, and iMessage.
As for me, I fell into this scenario: SMS/iMessage/WhatsApp on my phone, and then switch to email when at my desktop. Result? I’d constantly be saying “I know I sent that”… but I could never remember which communication channel I used. If I was out and about and needed to send a long message, I would leave it till I got back to my desk and could pen a long email — if I remembered! I would use documents, spreadsheets or presentations to capture too-complex-for-an-email information, then share that. Messy.
OK, so what if you could have a tool that works on your phone and your desktop, and allows you to combine messaging, documents, applications, transactions and simple workflows?
Enter Buzzy: Intelligent ‘Instant Apps’ that centralize and simplify interactions for groups and teams.
Each ‘Buzz’ is a customizable combination of content, conversation, messaging, microapps/forms and transactions. That’s it!
A ‘Buzz’ becomes that One Point of Truth that allows the group to get on the same page — whether that Buzz is about a team (work, social or family), a particular application (a sales field report, a building project, a creative project), an event, or whatever else is important. Once the group works this out, it’s easy to remember where things are and the conversation, information and interaction all fall into place.
See the video below, where Love to Dream (inventor of a 3-Stage Sleep system) use Buzzy to improve efficiency and communication:
Our biggest challenge with Buzzy has been getting people to resist the urge to fragment their conversations and processes. In a workplace, it seems much easier, as you’re working in a closed environment where adoption can be mandated and it becomes much easier for the team to see the value.
If you’re a key influencer, we’d love you to give Buzzy a try — pick one or two important things and test the water. You can start by choosing one of the many existing templates or just create your own.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out and ask for a hand — check the contact details on our site, or check the Buzzy support pages.
We’re also looking for System Integrators (SIs)and Independent Solution Vendors (ISVs) to use Buzzy with their customers.
For customers and partners, you can run your Buzzy solutions on Buzzy.buzz — it’s free for single author/unlimited audience. We can also allow you to spin up your own customized Buzzy instance on IBM’s BlueMix — please contact us for more info.
If you’re an interested ISV or SI, please reach out — we’d love to chat and see how we could possibly work together
